Data Platform Manager

A mobile app for IT administrators to monitor system health and troubleshoot issues for their company’s infrastructure.

About Data Platform Manager

An infrastructure is a framework of physical and virtual resources that support the flow, storage, processing, and analysis of data. The IT administrator ensures that a company’s infrastructure is running at all times. Therefore, they must have an easy way to monitor and resolve any issues whether they are at work or on call at home. For this project, I designed Data Platform Manager’s entire mobile application.

Team Role

UX Designer

Project Type

Mobile Application

Duration

4 Months

The IT Administrator’s Job is an Ongoing Effort

IT Administrators must be prepared to maintain, monitor, and troubleshoot infrastructure issues at all times. If the system fails, they have to sort through a multitude of alerts, prioritize their severity, and resolve problems quickly. These tasks become increasing difficult to manage when outside the office setting.

—Research Insights—

Challenges IT Administrators Face

Monitoring Systems at All Times

“The internet never goes to sleep… we have to operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

Getting to the Root of the Problem

“Piecing together information to resolve a problem can be difficult without all necessary pieces.”

Prioritizing Critical Tasks

“Getting unnecessary alerts in the middle of the night or that may resolve themselves is a huge pain point.”

IBM Data Platform Manager

An mobile application for IT Administrators to manage resources, monitor system health, and troubleshoot issues for their company’s infrastructure.

Monitor System Health

The IT Admin can monitor the overall health of his company’s infrastructure at a glance. He can quickly view the average CPU, Memory, and Disk levels for his servers.

Monitor System Health

The IT Admin can monitor the overall health of his company’s infrastructure at a glance. He can quickly view the average CPU, Memory, and Disk levels for his servers.

Drill Down to Details

The IT Admin can explore every facet of his infrastructure. Whether it’s high level overviews or specific server details, the IT admin can easily find the information he needs to monitor or troubleshoot issues.

Drill Down to Details

The IT Admin can explore every facet of his infrastructure. Whether it’s high level overviews or specific server details, the IT admin can easily find the information he needs to monitor or troubleshoot issues.

Troubleshoot Alerts

The IT Admin can receive a variety of notifications when critical events occur. By clicking on the alert card, he can easily navigate to essential information to confidently assess the situation.

Troubleshoot Alerts

The IT Admin can receive push notifications when critical events occur. By clicking on the alert card, he can easily navigate to essential information to assess the situation.

Delegate Tasks

The IT Admin can also assign alerts to his team along with a quick note. The status is immediately updated on the card status, preventing a duplication of efforts.

Delegate Tasks

The IT Admin can also assign alerts to his team along with a quick note. The status is immediately updated on the assignment, preventing a duplication of efforts.

—Research & Design Process—

Taking a Deep Dive Into Technology

The research we conducted for this project was built on the foundation from our previous project, Data Science Experience. In addition to leveraging existing research, our team conducted 15 users interviews and usability tests along with 2 customer site visits. From our own research, we discovered a new target persona, the IT Administrator. A significant portion of our research was spent understanding the technology behind various infrastructures, and this effort resulted in more meaningful generative research.

The Doctors of the Infrastructure

IT Administrators ensure that an infrastructure is healthy and makes repairs when it’s not. They install, manage, and maintain the organization’s hardware and software on-premises, and may be involved in the software procurement process. Additionally, IT Admins work in a managed cloud environment, on a server behind the company’s firewall, to oversee a network of computers connected together.

The Doctors of the Infrastructure

IT Administrators ensure that an infrastructure is healthy and makes repairs when it’s not. They install, manage, and maintain the organization’s hardware and software on-premises, and may be involved in the software procurement process. Additionally, IT Admins work in a managed cloud environment, on a server behind the company’s firewall, to oversee a network of computers connected together.

Understanding the IT Admin’s Workflow

By conducting domain research, interviews, and interactive exercises, our team learned about the aspirations, goals, and pain points of IT Admins. Below is the As-Is User Journey diagram I helped create.

Wireframing Ideas

When designing for mobile, I had to rethink the architecture because the desktop version is very comprehensive. Card sorting exercises with users and sketching low fidelity wireframes helped me narrow down the most important functionality for IT admins who don’t have access to a computer.

Pain Points in the IT Admin’s Workflow

By conducting domain research, interviews, and interactive exercises, our team learned about the aspirations, goals, and pain points of IT Admins. Below are some of the most compelling insights.

The internet doesn’t go to sleep… we have to operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Monitoring at All Times

Piecing together information to resolve a problem can be difficult without all necessary pieces.

Filtering through Information

Getting unnecessary alerts in the middle of the night or that may resolve themselves.

Prioritizing Tasks

—Next Steps—

It’s an Ongoing Work

Data Platform Manager is currently a desktop application to support local installations of IBM software. As the product matures, the need for a mobile application will become a necessity. Including this application in this year’s product roadmap is being discussed.